


The Heart Starts

by CocoaChoux



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - School, Fantasy, Fluff, Ghost Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Light Angst, M/M, Magic, Pining, Supernatural Elements, Teacher Eren Yeager, Teacher Levi (Shingeki no Kyojin), Vampire Eren Yeager
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-25
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-09-12 04:52:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9056143
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CocoaChoux/pseuds/CocoaChoux
Summary: Finally back at his alma mater, Eren is set on gaining the affection of a ghost.





	1. I Fell in Love with a Ghost

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ladycarathis](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladycarathis/gifts).



> Merry Christmas everyone! I hope your holidays are going well! :D
> 
> I'm back to post my Secret Santa gift fic that was done with the pufflets and I got the lovely Em as my recipient. I took 3 of her prompts and split them into 3 different chapters (but I'll be posting one a day because I'm evil ;3c) but they still follow the same story line. Each prompt is the title of the chapter so you'll know which prompts I chose~ 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this honeybun! ^O^

There was something magical in the air.

Literally.

Eren stood at the front gates of his alma mater, Ariam Academy of the Supernatural. He had graduated from this school several years ago where he first started learning how to hone his latent abilities and skills. But now, he came back as a new professor of the academy.

The moon shone brightly in the night sky. Candles lit up the exterior parts of the school to give it an eerie glow to a normal human being’s point of view, but for Eren, it was the picture of home.

Taking one final view of the school, Eren took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he transformed. His bat form screeched into the night as he flew his way through the magical barrier and into the school grounds.

* * *

“Eren Yeager. It’s good to see you again.”

“Likewise, Professor Smith. Or should I say, Headmaster Smith? Congratulations on the promotion, sir.” Eren smiled as he shook hands with the wizard. Even after all these years, the man still had a compelling aura that could command any person into submission. He remembered Professor Smith as one of the toughest teachers in the academy but was the most fair of them all; he only had him for his last two years of school, but Professor Smith’s teaching methods were simple yet complex to keep the mind thinking and have ongoing discussions in class. He wasn’t at all surprised when he heard that Headmaster Zackly stepped down and passed the position to Professor Smith. The man was hardworking and always strived to do the best for the students of Ariam.

Headmaster Smith chuckled. “Thank you, Professor Yeager, but you may still call me Professor Smith if it makes you more comfortable going by my old title.”

“Nah. Headmaster Smith suits you more, sir.”

“So I’ve been told on multiple occasions.” He offered Eren a smile before going back to business, “Is your room to your liking? We can make additional modifications for a better accommodation if you need it.”

“As long as I have thick curtains to block out the sunlight, there’s nothing else more I would ask for. Thanks for not giving me a coffin to sleep in, by the way. The red silk sheets are a nice touch.”

“We’ve had many vampire staff members complain about their sleeping arrangements in the past and know better now to make it more comfortable for our nocturnal workers.” Headmaster Smith pulled a stack of papers out of the drawers of his desk and handed them to Eren. “Here are the times of the classes you’ll be teaching. Each one has a course outline to help you get familiar with the material that will be covered and attached are lists of students registered in those classes. Ms. Ral at the front will help give you a tour of the campus and direct you to where the classes are. I know you’re familiar with the school grounds already, but several rooms have changed and certain departments are now in different buildings than what you’re used to. Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions, okay?”

Eren simply nodded, excited and ready to see what changes the school went through after he graduated.

Ms. Ral guided him through the corridors and made several remarks about the school’s history and what classes were taught in each building. Eren obviously knew most of it already, but he was surprised that there was now a building dedicated to experimental crafting of human invention to be better suited for use for magical and mythical beings. There was more artwork covering the walls and he politely nodded at the portraits that followed him with their eyes.

“Wow, the school finally managed to finish constructing the water pathway, huh?” Eren commented offhandedly. He waved at a passing selkie in greeting as she continued swimming down the hallway. Each side had a trench filled with water so that mermaids, nereids, encantados, and other sea creatures could freely move between classes and buildings without relying on using magic or spells that take up a lot of energy to perform. It was in the middle of construction when he attended, but he was glad that it was finally finished. The construction caused a lot of inconveniences and classes had to be moved to other buildings because of the noise level.

Ms. Ral sighed, “It took way too long for the project to be approved and even then, there were difficulties constructing through the floors and the ground before since it contain a lot of concentrated magical energy and it was hard to break through it. Luckily, Professor Zoe found a way to extract the energy and transfer it to the construction tools and it made the process much smoother.”

“Professor Zoe? They’re still teaching here?”

Ms. Ral giggled at his surprised tone of voice. “They were a student at this academy many years ago, just like you, and came back to teach necromancy. They’re also the head of the Experimentation Department we just passed by.”

“Oh man, I wonder if any other of the professors I had are still working here.”

“Who did you have when you were attending?”

Eren did a thoughtful pose as recalled which classes and professors he had years ago. “Professor Zacharius… Professor Berner… Professor Langar…” He stopped short when he saw who was at the end of the hallway.

His jaw dropped in shock when a white figure floated across the carpet, just as gracefully as Eren remembered it. Though his heart had stopped beating long ago, his chest tightened whenever he was in this man’s presence, making him feel alive once again. Warmth spread through his body like lava and the cold, brisk air of the night didn’t help him in any way.

His voice trembled in astonishment, uncertain if he was seeing what he thought was there. “Professor Ackerman…”

The translucent figure stopped to turn around and Eren gasped when dark eyes met his. It really was him.

Professor Ackerman’s normally impassive eyes shifted to one of recognition and floated over to them. “Eren? Is that you?”

Eren’s face colored (as much as a vampire could) and nodded dumbly, his mind not getting over the face that Professor Ackerman still remembered him. “I-it’s nice to see you again, sir.”

“What’re you doing here? It’s been years since you’ve graduated.”

Eren had to control his breathing and absentmindedly wiped the palms of his hands against his pants because they were starting to sweat from nervousness. “I’m actually going to be working here, sir.”

“Eren is going to be teaching Beginner’s Transformation and Nocturnal Hunting for the freshmen classes for the upcoming year,” Ms. Ral supplied.

Professor Ackerman looked surprise. “Hoh? Never expected you to take an interest in teaching young folk how to control their abilities.”

“I wanted to be an educator after graduating and Headmaster Smith offered me a position once it came available.” _‘But you were the one who inspired me to be one, sir,’_ he added mentally, remembering their last moments together.

* * *

“Professor Ackerman?”

The two were the last ones left in the classroom. His fellow schoolmates quickly took off once class was adjourned, going to their dorms to pack up everything before the graduation ceremony that was taking place the next day. Eren stayed behind since this will be the last time he would speak with his professor, the professor that he had been nursing a huge crush on since his first year at Ariam.

“Yes, Eren? Is there something I can help you with?” Professor Ackerman looked ready to leave as well, but Eren had to catch him before he left.

With a deep breath, Eren asked, “Why did you become a teacher, sir?”

Professor Ackerman paused his movements. “Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know what I’m going to do once I leave here,” Eren admitted, “I know the academy helps us control our natural powers and being a productive member of society, but I still feel at a loss of what to do after here. This place feels like home to me. I’ve made great friends, learned many new things, and made wonderful memories here in the academy. I don’t think I’m ready to leave.”

Professor Ackerman floated towards him and stopped right at his feet. “Eren, what you’re saying is what every teacher hopes to hear.”

“What do you mean by that? You want your students to feel hopeless?” Eren narrowed his eyes. What Professor Ackerman said made no sense. What kind of teacher would wish that for a student?

The man shook his head. “Not exactly. While teaching is a main part of our job, we’re also here as your mentors. We’re not here to hold your hand and tell you what to do, but we are here when you need support. We take your trust in us and give you the best experiences you can have in school. To hear that you have insecurities for the future means that you’re thinking ahead and cherishing the time you had here and that’s a good thing. It means I’m doing my job properly.

“Look, not everything goes as expected and you will have failures. What’s important is to pick yourself up and persevere through it. Hell, change directions if you feel like it’s hopeless. It’s not the end of the world if you change your mind, but remember to just keep going. That’s something we don’t teach in the classroom, but it’s something we teachers want our students to know and understand when they’re faced with challenges.”

Eren hadn’t expected such a well thought-out answer and saw his professor in a new light. “You really love being a teacher, don’t you?”

Professor Ackerman shrugged but Eren could tell it was to cover up his embarrassment at the statement. “It’s not bad.” Glancing at Eren, he said, “It’s not too bad of a feeling to help lost brats find their way in this world.” Professor Ackerman poked his forehead, but there wasn’t any physical contact since he was a ghost. It felt like a wisp of air, but Eren still felt it in his soul.

Backing away, Professor Ackerman said in a serious voice, “You’re going to do great things, Eren. You’re determined to a fault and I would hate to see that fire go away.” He placed his hand on Eren’s shoulder and gave Eren a rare smile that he had never seen before. “Congratulations on graduating, Eren. I hope to see you around again.”

And with that, he left the room without a trace.

Eren stumbled back and bumped into a desk, holding himself so he wouldn’t fall. He gently placed his hand on his shoulder where Professor Ackerman had touched him. Tears welled up in his eyes as he thought about all the memories he had with this man over the years and how he was unable to confess in the end – too scared of being rejected by the person he highly respected, unwilling to leave the school with a broken heart. Unable to even say thank you in the end to the person who deserved it the most simply because he never wanted their time to end.

_You’re determined to a fault and I would hate to see that fire go away._

Never had he heard such high praise from his professor and it was directed to him of all people.

Clutching his shoulder, he stared at the space where Professor Ackerman disappeared before his eyes. He wouldn’t let it end here. He couldn’t.

“Wait for me, sir. I’ll be back and become an adult worthy of your attention. Then I’ll be able to say the words I’ve been meaning to say for all these years.”

After all, Professor Ackerman wanted him to come back again and he was known to be a stubborn little shit.

* * *

Eren blinked as he was brought back to the present. The sudden flashback distracted him from his conversation with Professor Ackerman. He barely caught the end of the professor’s sentence.

“-at so? Then congrats on being stuck back here in school, Eren.”

Eren smiled, fangs resting on his bottom lip. “Thank you, Professor Ackerman. I look forward to working with you.”

Professor Ackerman snorted at the formality and waved his hand. “Just call me Levi. We’re co-workers now so there’s no need for the titles.”

He had never once referred Professor Ackerman by his first name, out loud or in his head. But being able to do it now meant that he was one step closer to becoming someone who Pr- no, Levi, could see as an equal. Not just as student and teacher, but as colleagues.

“Let’s start over then.” Barely able to contain his excitement, he stuck out his hand. “I’m Eren Yeager. It’s nice to meet you, Levi. I look forward to working together.”

Levi looked at the outstretched hand smirked. He hovered his own hand with Eren’s. “Levi Ackerman. Nice to meet you, Eren. I hope you it here at the academy.”

Despite the lack of physical contact and that his hand turned colder from the touch, it ignited a new fire in his body that he hadn’t felt since that day.

This was the beginning of a brand new start for them and Eren was determine to grab hold of Levi’s affection like he did to him so long ago.


	2. Quit it or I’ll Bite

The first few months of the new school year flew by and the semester was already over. Before he knew it, it was already the winter break.

Eren groaned as he sat upright, rolling his shoulders from being slouched over for a long period of time. He was trying his best to mark all the exams before the end of the year but it looked like there was no end in sight. All he saw was paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. He didn’t realize how much work it took to be a professor.

He was glad to see that his students improved, though. The ones he graded so far made him feel relieved that his students learned something and that the information actually retained in their heads. (That or they were really good at cramming.) 

It was a bit of a learning curve for him at the beginning. While he had plenty of theoretical knowledge, teaching others, especially those who were not used to being exposed to the supernatural, proved to have many difficulties. Having so many different kinds of beings in one classroom taught him a lot of patience, tolerance, and learning how it was perfectly acceptable to throw pieces of chalk at students if they were stepping out of line.

(There were also many instances where he had to hold back incubus students from making a move on the nymphs, even while class was still in progress for Moon’s sake!)

He eventually found a teaching method that he was comfortable with and that his students enjoyed and that helped make his lectures easier. Even though everyone’s transformation skills were all over the place, they were able to either hide their real self or transform into a dog, cat, or bird. Those were the basics of transformation, but that was all that was required to pass Beginner’s Transformation.

Nocturnal Hunting, though, that class was a nightmare to handle.

All of the students were excited to finally go into the human world to feed or start general destruction, but Eren made sure he ingrained into their heads that while humans are more tolerable of their presence in recent history, they will not tarnish the agreement they had with the humans. Humans were off limits to first-years so they had to make do with the wildlife in certain areas. And he made sure that message was clear to the baobhan siths so that they won’t seduce any humans if they so happen to encounter one.

He taught them how to hunt deer and bears, and how their specific abilities could aid them to make the hunting process faster. While his obvious specialty was teaching vampires how to hunt, he also knew some tricks for the kappas to lure animals into rivers and taught the ghouls how to dispose of the body properly. 

Eren would normally transform into a bat to keep surveillance discreetly while the students went off on their own to hunt, but he paid extra attention to the recently-turned vampire students to make sure they were feeding properly. Those students had the tendency to be more timid with hunting compared to the purebloods and were scared to even sink their fangs into a living creature. 

He could sympathize with their feelings, but they had to learn how to feed properly or else they would starve to death or do something reckless. It was an agonizingly slow process to get them hunting properly, but he manage to make the turned-vampire students feel assured and more confident in taking blood quickly and as painless as possible but also making sure to not suck the victim dry. He hoped that those students remembered what he taught them, hesitation never did any good for anybody.

“It looks like you need to take a shit by the way you’re looking at the paper so intently.”

Eren jumped up from his chair from Levi’s sudden arrival. “Stars above! What the fuck, Levi? I told you to stop doing that.” 

Levi looked unperturbed. “You mean scaring you? Why would I stop doing that with my source of entertainment?”

“You’ve been hanging out with Hange way too much whether you admit it or not.”

Levi scowled as a blood bag flew to Eren’s face. “Here, numbnuts. You make stupid accusations when you haven’t eaten.”

Not wanting to piss the ghost off any further, he accepted the blood bag pierced it with his fangs, trying not to grimace at the cold temperature. Warm blood tasted better, but he shouldn’t be too picky with his food. Especially since Levi went out of his way to get it for him.

He watched as the ghost floated around his office, placing books back to where they belong and airing out the carpet with his telekinesis powers. That was one thing he liked about Levi: despite the fact that he couldn’t physically touch or grab something, he was able to use magic and learned how to control his telekinesis so that it wouldn’t hinder the way he lived (or not living, whatever). He always found a way to make things work and that was a quality that Eren admired about him.

Levi continued fluttered about, finding the tiniest areas that need to be cleaned. It amused Eren greatly whenever he did that and he once made an off-handed remark if Levi was a brownie in a past life because of his penchant for cleaning.

Levi took it the wrong way and thought it was a jab at his height. His ex-professor spent the following week following him and reappearing in impromptu times scaring him. Hell, he even once stuck his head through the blackboard while Eren was teaching. It was so unexpected that he transformed into a bat on instinct while his class (and Levi) laughed at him. Asshole. 

But he had his own form of revenge against him. While Levi likes to scare him and takes advantage of his invisibility powers, Eren liked to retaliate by throwing random objects to see it fly through Levi’s body. Levi made the mistake by telling Eren one night that he got annoyed whenever Hange threw stuff at him (they proclaimed that it was for science even though they could just damn well use magic, Levi’s words, not Eren’s), and Eren immediately joined in on the fun, adding to Levi’s list of annoying people he shouldn’t tell things to. 

Draining the rest of the blood bag, he thought it was time to get back at him for the scare earlier. He reached for the quill on his desk and threw it at him to see it go by as expected. Levi didn’t acknowledge it, but Eren knew that it annoyed him. 

Feeling more mischievous (maybe all that grading got to his head and he needed some sort of stress relief), he opened the drawers and grabbed some of the spare buttons he kept in there and threw it at Levi again. The buttons, of course, went by Levi’s body but they ended up hitting a book stack, making it topple on the floor. Oh right, superhuman strength. He forgot he had that. 

There was a small pause from Levi. Maybe it was because the buttons caused a mess, or him not wanting to deal with it tonight, but Levi gave in faster than usual and shot Eren a glare.

“Quit it or I’ll bite.”

Eren snorted at that. “As if. You’re not a poltergeist, Levi. Besides, what kind of vampire gets themselves bitten?”

“The kinky kind.”

Eren made a sound that was a combination of a choke and a laugh. “Stars… I’m glad you still have the same old humor of yours.”

Levi crossed his arms. “I’ve been a ghost before you were born. My humor is timeless, thank you. Maybe you’re just not old enough to appreciate it.”

There it was again.

Eren frowned. Levi may not be doing this intentionally on his part, but he always made little remarks about how young he was. Sure he was younger than the ghost, but he was an adult vampire who was able to make it on his own. He was no longer a student at the academy, but sometimes he wondered if Levi still saw him as one, even though they call each other by their first named and joked around with each other.

He thought back on how their relationship grew bit by bit. How they went from simple greetings when they passed each other through the hallways, to having small conversations, to them visiting each other’s offices. While he did depend on Levi for guidance at the beginning, they would end up sitting and talking for hours whether it was school-related or about their personal lives. 

Eren even had the chance to finally hear about Levi’s life before his untimely death. Levi lived on a small farm with his mother on the outskirts of a town that no longer existed. They didn’t have much, but he and his mother did the best that they could for years until his mother passed away just before he turned 16. He was then later adopted by his uncle who sold the farm and brought Levi to a large town, teaching him how to steal and fight. His uncle abandoned him after a few years, but using what he taught him, Levi grew up on how to survive. He at first accepted blood money but later became disgusted with how the nobility treated the poor when they didn’t make their payments on time. He had then turned into a vigilante, protecting those who could not defend themselves and killing off those who were greedy with power. 

He eventually died from a fire, saving the young orphans who were under attack by men hired by the noblemen. Because the orphanage was under his protection, it was an act of vengeance. He saved every child but was trapped by the falling debris that blocked his way out of the fire. He inhaled too much smoke and passed out while being surrounded by flames.

Then he remembered waking up as a ghost, floating around the rubble of where the orphanage once stood. Maybe because there was still unfinished business that he did not go to the afterlife and continued ‘living’ as a ghost. He managed to find the orphans who were then being taken care of by a close friend of his along with her husband; and he helped them rebuild the orphanage in his own way, placing a hand on their shoulder to watch out for danger, using his telekinesis to move small objects since his powers weren’t as strong then, and learning how to appear in ghost form to scare off intruders coming for the orphanage.

He watched the orphanage grow and he watched the children he saved grow up into adults, but he never moved on and remained a ghost in the human world.

That was how Erwin found him. 

The wizard was traveling and encountered Levi by chance. He offered Levi to come join Ariam as a night guard. With nothing better to do, Levi accepted and found his place at the school, moving up from patrolling the school grounds at night to teaching classes as a professor from all the self-studying he did. 

Hearing about Levi’s previous life made him understand the ghost more on a closer level than before and he developed a newfound appreciation when he heard how Levi became a professor. Levi was truly remarkable. He was strong-willed, powerful, smart, resourceful, and overall special. He didn’t think that he couldn’t fall more in love with him, but he did.

Eren sighed as he turned his back on the man, his attention on the snow that was cascading down the night sky. 

He loved snow, especially during the night. The snow brightened up its surroundings but not bright enough to harm his eyes. While he was able to withstand being under sunlight for a good amount of time, too much at once could cause shortness of breath and made him hungry at an alarming rate. 

Thankfully, snow was the perfect for him when he needed some light in his life without damaging his health. The snow also reminded him of Levi as well. Besides the obvious white color, it was clean and flawless. Sometimes it was fluffy, sometimes it wasn’t. Sometimes it came storming, but sometimes it was gentle. Levi wasn’t as unemotional as he let out to be. He was strict yet kind, serious but funny. An enigma of sorts. A type of character Eren loved to discover more and more of.

“You’re just like it.”

Eren turned to see Levi standing beside him. “I’m just like what?”

“The snow.” Levi pointed his chin to the window. “You’re just like the snow.”

“I hope it’s not because of the color of my skin.”

Levi rolled his eyes. “Oh, please. You’re the tannest vampire I’ve ever met.”

If beige was considered ‘tanned’ for a vampire, then sure, he would accept it. “Then what do you mean that I’m like snow?” Eren was curious. He had never been compared to snow before. What did Levi see that made them alike?

“For one, it sparkles,” Levi smirked at Eren’s scoff, “But joking aside, it’s radiant. You have this natural glow around you that brightens up a room wherever you go. I don’t think you realize it, though. It might be something to do with your father’s shaman blood, even though you were born a pureblood.”

Really? Eren looked down at his hands and didn’t see any kind of light. Huh. He would have to ask Hange about it another time.

“Snow also brings joy,” Levi continued, “You have this pleasant disposition that has people naturally gravitate to you. You’re also stubborn as fuck but you make the best of any situation and help others. Maybe you were already on your way to being a teacher without realizing it.”

“What do you mean by that?” He felt like a student again. Always asking Levi to clarify what he was saying about him. Wanting to hear what Levi thought of him. 

“You were always keen on making others happy, especially your friends. Remember the time you almost died getting a kokia flower for your diviner friend’s potion-making final?”

“For Armin? Well yeah, he wanted to make a potion that would allow the user to temporarily change form into a phoenix. I got a nasty burn from being in the sun for too long, but Armin was able to make it and impressed the sponsoring council members. He’s actually working for them now.”

“That’s good to hear. He was always one of the brighter students from your graduating class,” Levi said, “How about the time you saved that xana from her kidnappers?”

Eren growled at the memory. “There was no way we were going to let them take Historia away. I almost killed them that night but had to refrain from doing so. I do remember their blood tasting foul, though.”

Levi hummed thoughtfully. “Or how about the time you saved that werewolf from hunters?”

“Jean and I had a temporary truce,” Eren replied stubbornly before sighing. “Levi, I don’t see your point, anyone would do anything for their friends.”

“True, but you made friends with other beings that would normally live their life in solitude yet you brought them all together.” Levi rocked back and forth on his heels, still looking at the snow outside.

“We teachers always thought you were a weird bunch: tennin, faun, succubus, sphinx, fairy, centaur, valkyrie, demon, the aforementioned, and you being in the center of it all. While vampires are naturally charismatic, you also help build trust with one another and became a tight-knit group of friends. Handling all these different kinds of beings and maintaining that kind of close relationship were probably reasons why Erwin offered you a position here. We need people like you to teach the diverse classes and know how to deal with their individual traits. It’s actually hard to be a teacher and not everyone’s cut out for it, but you seemed to get the hang of it quite quickly. Erwin was impressed by your performance from the last meeting we had and you’ve become a favorite amongst the freshmen despite being new.”

Eren flushed hotly from all the praise and thought back on what Levi had said. It was true that while he was a student, he had a large group of friends but he never gave it a thought on how really weird it was for his group of friends to be together. It felt natural to be around them and they had fun despite the occasional trouble. 

“I guess we’re all snowflakes then,” Eren commented, “All different yet together.”

Levi nodded slowly. He reached for the window pane and watched as the glass frosted around his hand from the natural chill he emitted. After a moment, he quietly said, “Snow has the capability to become anything it wants to be. It flows in the wind and chills the body. It comes and it goes, but it’s always beautiful when it’s here.”

He had an unreadable expression but Eren’s chest felt constricted. It hurt to not know what Levi’s feelings were to him. Those words and praises gave him hope but it was driving him insane to not know for sure. He wanted to know, needed to know. He wasn’t a young teenager anymore. He had to take the first step as someone worth considering.

Turning to look at him, he asked, “Levi, what do you think of me?”

Levi turned away from the snow and asked, “Why the sudden question, Eren?”

“I love you, Levi,” he said it with such intensity that it even surprised himself. “I have been for the past decade. You’re constantly on my mind and I need to know what you truly think of me.”

Levi’s body stiffened, staring blankly right at him. Eren briefly saw confusion and surprise in his eyes before it disappeared. 

They both continued staring at each other, waiting. The silence was deafening and Eren had to break it or else his thoughts became too loud.

“Levi?” he whispered. 

His voice must had brought him back from his thoughts because Levi’s eyes widened before looking away from him.

“I… I have to go.”

And just like before, he disappeared without a trace.

Eren stared at the empty space in front of him, feeling colder than he had before. He felt like ripping his chest open to ease the pain he was feeling. It was déjà vu all over again. He reverted back to his younger self, helpless and lost. The fire in his soul suffocated and the feeling made him feel like he was dying even though he was already dead. 

He laughed bitterly. 

“I really stabbed a stake into my heart with this one, didn’t I?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know why the prompt turned more angsty then expected but I swear the next chapter will make up for it! You can trust me! QAQ 
> 
> Also, does anyone want to take a guess what mythical creatures I associated the 104th with? :P It's just for fun to see what you think~


	3. Fang-rotting Fluff

Winter break was finally over and it was the start of the New Year. Eren was already busy from the beginning of the new semester due to Headmaster Smith assigning him to teach Enchantment 102 at the last minute. He saw some of the students he taught previously amongst the faces of his new class and it helped him be put at ease as he got back into the rhythm of teaching.

He was also in charge of teaching Summoning Etiquette and Scripture Basics this semester which meant a lot more testing and much more paperwork since neither of those were field classes. It kept him busy and for that, he was grateful for it. It was enough of a distraction so he wouldn’t focus on the fact that he hadn’t seen Levi for a month.

Eren paused his marking. He sighed heavily as he put his quill down and put his head on his hands. A whole month. A whole month since he had last seen the ghost. He hadn’t heard from him ever since the blatant rejection and it hurt Eren more than anything to know that his feelings weren’t even worth a properly reply. Did their relationship up to that point really meant nothing?

He looked at his pocket watch to see that it was going to be sunrise soon. He hadn’t finished grading the papers, but he could do it just before class after the sunset. One of the things he loved about winter was the longer period of time that he could be active due to less daylight.

Locking his office with a protection spell, he slowly made his way back to his room. He passed by some of the zombie night guards and greeted them as he passed by. His room was on the other side of the building, and while it would be faster to transform into his bat form to get there, he enjoyed taking leisurely walks. It was nice, quiet, and a good way to sort out his thoughts, just like what he was doing right now.

He paused when he reached the corridor that was lined with large windows. Approaching to the one closest to him, he could see that the skies were slowly turning orange, indicating the arrival of the sun. He always loved sunrise; it blended beautifully with the night sky until it turned blue, and he enjoyed watching the skies turn into darkness and filled with stars when the sun had set. One could never appreciate this kind of natural magic enough. The world was so vast and there was so much to discover. If he wasn’t a vampire, he would have loved to travel to every country and discover the magic that was the Earth. Sometimes he envied the warlocks who lived in isolation with nothing but nature around them.

He blinked in surprise when flecks of white gently gliding down his vision. Looking up, he saw more puffs of snow fall down but there wasn’t a cloud in sight. Snow with clear skies? The world truly was magical in its own way.

Eren rested his head on the window pane and sighed, fogging up the window where he his breath was. The snow painfully reminded him of that night. So cruel, yet he still couldn’t help but think it was beautiful. Levi was still beautiful in his heart. The heart that had never beat once since the day he was born, yet Levi stirred something within his chest, like as though his heart would resurrect just by being with him.

The snow continued to drift down and Eren closed his eyes.

“I’m hopeless,” he chuckled humorlessly.

A cold breeze went by him.

His eyes snapped open and he spun around in the empty corridor. He felt it. The familiar chill that shook his entire body, one that was unmistakable. “Levi?”

He received no response, but he had a feeling that Levi was still around. Taking a chance, he pleaded, “Levi? Please, I want to talk to you.”

There was no response, but Eren didn’t expect one. Instead, he just continued, “I’m not going to apologize for confessing. Those are my true feelings for you and I won’t take it back. I just wanted to know why you’ve been avoiding me. I know our relationship could never go back to what it was before, but I don’t want us to stop all communication altogether. If you’re going to reject me, I would rather you do it to my face. Yes, it’s going to hurt like hell for me, but it’ll be better than having you disappear from my life completely.”

“So please…”

Still no response. Maybe he was crazy, pleading into the empty air, but he just knew Levi was somewhere near him. He couldn’t see him, but he could feel his presence, even when he was invisible.

Time ticked by and any hope Eren had, died. Shaking his head, he was about to make his way back to his room until frost started to form on the window in an unnatural way. His eyes it up and stepped closer to the window.

There was a handprint that was frosted over and that was enough for Eren. “Levi, please show yourself, or are you going to scare me again?”

“It’s not as fun when you’re expecting it, Eren.”

Eren turned around and almost cried in relief. It felt too long since he had heard his voice and couldn’t hide the smile on his face. “That’s true. I was actually starting to miss –ack!” Eren winced as the sun peeked over the horizon and the rays penetrated through the window. It didn’t truly hurt, but it was unexpected and threw him by surprise.

Levi frowned with concern. “I think we should go somewhere safe to talk. Quickly.”

Eren nodded and without further prompting transformed into a bat. He flew through the hallways with Levi beside him until they reached the door to his bedroom. Transforming back to his normal body, Eren muttered a chant under his breath and the door swung open.

Levi made his way in while Eren closed the door behind him before heading over to the lone window in his room and pulled the curtains together. Feeling much better in the dark, he lit up the candles with precise taps to his palm to have some light in the room without making it overbearing for him.

Eren watched as Levi hover around the edge of his bed with an amused look on his face.

“Nice bed sheets you got there.”

Eren spared the red silk sheets a glance. “Thanks, Headmaster Smith picked it out.”

Levi snorted. “Figured as much. Even though he reads a fuck ton of tomes, he’s a sucker for trashy romance novels.”

Eren chuckled as he took a spot on his bed near Levi. “So, you ready to tell me why you’ve been avoiding me for the past month?”

“I haven’t been avoiding you.”

“That’s a load of bull,” the vampire retorted, “We practically saw each other every day last semester and then you cut off all communication with me since that night.”

Levi tensed up at the mention of that night and Eren sighed. “Sorry for the accusation. You must have your reasons, but you can’t blame me for reaching that conclusion.”

Levi shook his head. “No, you have every right to think that. While I have been busy the last few weeks since we saw each other, but as you said, I’ve also been avoiding you. But not in the way you’re thinking,” Levi added, “I needed some time to think about what you said.”

He took a spot next to Eren and looked up at the ceiling. “I’ll be honest with you; I had suspected that you were harboring feelings for me when you were a student but didn’t act upon it.”

“Was I that obvious?”

“Not exactly. You just had this strange, lost look in your eyes sometimes whenever I’m around. And…”

Levi nervously scratched his cheek, an unusual action of hesitation that Eren hadn’t seen before.

“I was still outside the classroom when I heard your declaration.”

Pale cheeks turned pink. Eren buried his face in his hands to hide from the ghost. “Oh my stars, that’s so embarrassing.”

“Really? I thought it was endearing. It’s not every day that you hear a vampire make such a strong proclamation.”

Eren peeked through his fingers as Levi continued, “I didn’t give it much thought, that our last meeting would just be that. But then you came back.

“I wasn’t sure what you were going to do. You’ve become… different, much more mature from when I last saw you. I was surprised that you weren’t as rash as you were before, half-expecting you to confess right then and there but you held back, taking it slow so our relationship would build.”

“If you knew all that, then why did you let it continue?” Levi wasn’t the type of person to lead someone on, so then why couldn’t he just confront him about it earlier on?

Levi sighed. “That was why I needed time to think. I was wondering the same thing myself, why I kept seeing you even though I knew about your feelings.”

“And did you come to a conclusion?” Eren asked tentatively.

“I like you, too,” Levi said, “I may not feel as strongly towards you as you do to me, but I know my feelings for you are slowly growing.”

Eren felt like crying. His soul shook from happiness and his body thrummed from the overwhelming feeling. Closing his eyes, he inhaled deeply. “Thank the Moon. I’m so glad that I don’t have to part with you,” his voice was trembling, but he didn’t care. He was so damn relieved that he was able to stay by Levi’s side.

Levi smiled as he patted the bed. “Now that your inner turmoil is over, you need to get some rest.”

The vampire pouted as much as he could with his fangs in the way. “You’re so lucky that you can be out in the sunlight.”

“Yeah, being eternally awake is such a great thing,” Levi said sarcastically. “Now be a good bat and go to sleep.”

“Yes, Levi,” Eren yawned. Tucking himself under the covers, he had one more thing he needed to ask. “Hey, Levi?”

“Hm?”

“Does this mean I get to call you my boo?” Eren laughed when a pillow was thrown at him.

“Shut the fuck up and go to sleep. I’ll see you later tonight.”

Eren hummed as he snuggled into the pillows, his body and soul feeling lighter than it has for years. Closing his eyes, he said, “Have a good morning, Levi.”

He heard the door open just before falling asleep. “Good night, Eren. Sweet dreams.”

* * *

Eren groaned as he fluttered his eyes open, waking up from his slumber.

“You make stupid faces when you’re asleep. It’s a wonder how you didn’t bite yourself.”

Eren bolted right up to see Levi sitting on the end of his bed, a book levitated right in front of him.

Seeing Eren wide awake, the book closed shut before floating back to the shelf it was on originally. Levi chuckled at the dumb look on Eren’s face. “Yes, I’m here. And no, it’s not a dream.”

“That’s exactly something dream-Levi would say.”

“Oh? So you’ve been having dreams about me?” At the panicked expression, he smirked. “Care to share?”

“Nope. I think I’m good.” Getting out of the bed, Eren stretched but then looked down with a frown. “I didn’t change out of my clothes or brushed my teeth before falling asleep.”

Levi wrinkled his nose. “Gross.”

“Sorry for being distracted with something important this morning.” Rifling through his drawers, he headed to the bathroom that was connected to his room. “I’m going to take a shower. I’ll be back in a second.”

“Go for it. I’ll go grab you a blood pack in the meantime.”

Eren didn’t hide his elation. That sounded so domestic and sweet coming from Levi.

Stepping into the shower, he let his mind go blank as hot water sprayed his body. Thinking about what has happened in the last few hours made him feel hopeful. Levi accepted his feelings and though he wasn’t able to fully return it (yet), he was letting Eren be by his side once again. He couldn’t have asked for anything better than to be with Levi and it seemed that the ghost was more willing to accept his advances.

Finally feeling clean, he reached for a towel but then felt a sudden chill. He quickly grabbed the towel and wrapped it around his waist before stepping out of the shower. “Levi?”

No response.

“Levi, I know you’re in here.”

There was silence again but then the mirror started spelling out letters in frost.

_“How did you know it was me?”_

“Because of the sudden cold air. No other ghost in this school would come into my bathroom.”

_“Fair enough.”_

Eren sighed. “Why’re you in here, Levi?”

_“I’m bored.”_

“Couldn’t you have read a book?”

_“No.”_

“Can you at least make yourself appear so it doesn’t look like I’m speaking to nothing?” Eren turned on the faucet to start brushing his teeth. Might as well humor the ghost while he was getting ready for the night.

_“No.”_

“Why not?” His question was muffled from him brushing, but Levi seemed to understand what he was trying to say.

_“Because.”_

He spat out the foam in his mouth. “Were you just creeping around to see me naked?”

_“Maybe. ;)”_

Eren spat out the water he had in his mouth and started coughing. Once he finally regained his breath, he glared at the mirror. “Where did you learn how to use smileys?”

_“Picked it up from the human world. Seems popular with the young folk. xD”_

“Stars… please stop doing that.”

_“Why? Do you not like it? :(“_

“It’s just a very uncharacteristic thing for you to do.” Never in his life would he have expected Levi to do something like this.

_“Then I’m going to keep using it. o3o”_

There has to be a way to turn this around. “Making faces like that is like asking me to kiss you.”

There was no response that time and Eren took the chance to change into his clothes undisturbed. He felt self-conscious about changing in front of Levi, but the ghost probably has seen many things in his life that a naked body was not the most unusual thing he has ever seen.

Just as he put on his shirt, he felt something cold touch his lips. His eyes widened as Levi started materializing in front of him and he was… pink?

“Levi?”

Levi looked away and scowled. “Damn. I guess it’s permanent after all.”

“What’s permanent?”

Levi heaved out a deep sigh. “I was in Hange’s lab a few weeks ago as they were working on creating a mood solvent but something happened and it exploded on us. Now I have this weird condition that whenever I get embarrassed, I turn pink and can’t go back to my invisible form. Hange deals with something similar, but their hair turns blue when they’re sad.”

Eren mentally added that information for later. “But you’re pink now. Why’re you embarrassed?”

Levi turned a deeper shade of pink. “Take a guess, you bat.”

Flushing, he touched his lips. So that meant… “Hey, do it again.”

“No.”

Eren frowned. It seemed that he needed to be cheeky to get what he wanted. Thinking of different ways that he could get Levi to kiss him again, he thought of one that would get the ghost to shut him up. “Hey, Levi.”

“What?”

Time to see if it would work. “Do you know that you’re dead sexy?”

Levi glared. Bingo.

He continued, “You’re definitely a ghost because you’ve been haunting my dreams.”

“Eren-”

“You’re the most boo-tiful ghost I’ve ever seen.”

Levi let out a painful sigh while Eren cackled in amusement. “I fucking hate you.”

“Aw, come on. That one was funny, admit it.”

“No.”

“So it _was_ funny, but you won’t admit it.”

“It wasn’t.”

“It totally was.”

“Was not.”

“Was s-”

He got his kiss.

Eren sighed in content of how right it felt. It wasn’t warm like kissing another living being, it was so much better than that. It was like kissing snow, leaving a chill on his lips that he couldn’t get enough of. He only wished that he was physically able to hold onto Levi, but that was an issue that they would discuss another time. For now, he was happy with the kiss that sent shivers down his spine.

When Levi pulled away, Eren was pleased how bright of a pink Levi was, border lining a magenta shade. He briefly wondered how long the effect lasted for but Levi interrupted his thoughts by tapping his nose. “It’s time for you to get to work. Your class starts in few minutes.”

“Oh, shit!”

Eren flew out of his room and grabbed all the necessary course materials he needed. He didn’t end up finishing grading the tests like he planned to, but he would just explain it to his students that he would have it ready for tomorrow. Hopefully they would understand. It was a teacher-like thing to do after all. He would just have to figure out a way to get back at Levi for it later.

* * *

Eren was in the middle of reading a text when he heard muffled giggling. He looked up to see a few students covering their mouths but didn’t think much of it and went back to reading out loud. Again, there was more giggling but it was louder this time. He looked around and saw that his students weren’t looking at him, but what was behind him.

He groaned and braced himself for the worst as he turned around. “Levi!”

The floating chalk piece stopped and Levi appeared. The ghost had the audacity to look innocent. “Yes?”

“Please stop distracting my class.” He crossed his arms, trying to scowl but the blush that made its way to his cheeks ebbed off his annoyance.

Levi shrugged and the class continued to giggle. “I’m hurt. I thought I would help with your lesson by providing an example of a scripture to decipher.”

Right. Because a scripture that read, ‘Eren Yeager is a cuddler. ♥’ in the most basic language was _so_ helpful.

Eren pinched the space between his brows. “Levi, thank you for your help but I’ll have to ask you to leave while I’m still teaching.”

“Hmph. Fine. But one more thing.”

Levi disappeared and Eren wondered what he had meant but then felt a cold kiss before seeing Levi’s neck. He heard whistling and howling around him and had a dazed look when Levi pulled away. Levi was smirking, but it was weird to see it upside down.

“Levi!” He couldn’t believe he got a spider kiss from Levi, right in front of his students!

On the other hand, Levi looked unperturbed. “Hm, maybe I should have saved that for your lesson about love enchantments in the other class,” Levi pondered, still floating upside down. “Oh well. I’ll see you later. Don’t be too harsh on the young ones.”

This time, he actually left, giving Eren a wink before he did.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Eren muttered as he repeatedly hit his head with the book.

“I thought the gesture was really sweet, Professor Yeager,” a sylph spoke up.

Other students nodded in agreement with her and the orc in the back bellowed in laughter. “It’s always amusing to see Professor Ackerman messing you up.” The class laughed again and Eren had enough teasing for the night.

“Okay, that’s it.” Eren threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. “Everyone’s getting extra homework tonight.”

The whole class simultaneously groaned and started to object but Eren raised a hand to stop them. “If you want to complain, take it up with Professor Ackerman.” Seeing their pouting faces, he smiled cheerfully as he opened his book. “Okay, now that we’re settled, let’s get back to the lesson.”

* * *

“Your class hates me.”

Eren chuckled as he got ready for bed. “You were the one who was distracting them. I was just being a good teacher and punished them when needed.”

Levi rolled his eyes as he drifted over to the vampire, placing a hand on the back of his neck and had a smug grin on his face when Eren jumped from the cold contact. Eren turned around and stuck his tongue but then he started laughing along.

Whenever Levi got playful like this, Eren found it impossible to get mad. The last few months was a slow development of their relationship. In fact, it was almost like how it was before, but with more kisses and being in each other’s presence more often.

Okay, maybe that wasn’t the full picture. Not once did Eren expect Levi to be so… flirty. After the initial embarrassment, Levi became bolder with his approaches which sometimes left Eren confused, aroused, and happy at the same time. He welcomed this new change in Levi but there was a time and a place for these things.

For instance, one time while he was in a council meeting with Headmaster Smith about his monthly performance in the academy, he felt something cold press up against his back before trails of ice went down his chest and rested on his hips. He had to grit his teeth through the meeting and almost bit himself when he felt familiar wisps of air concentrate on his crotch area. The councilmen didn’t notice anything too unusual but Headmaster Smith was clearly amused by if the hitch of his brows and not concealing the all-knowing smirk on his face meant something.

He couldn’t look at the wizard in the eye for weeks.

That was only one example of how mischievous Levi could be, and the classroom incident was one of the many times Levi liked to bother Eren in class. His students seemed to enjoy watching them, though, using the random classroom encounters as a small break from their lectures. There were more questions about his personal life and relationship with Levi coming from curious students, but that was a given after they went public to the school. Oh boy, he remembered how Hange screeched like a banshee when they heard the news and immediately created a new project to see if there was a way for Levi to actually have a physical form despite being a ghost. There was no luck yet, but they had all the time in the world for a breakthrough.

But for now, he was just happy just laying side by side with Levi. And speaking of which…

Eren pulled on his pajama shorts and laid on top of the bedsheets after rearranging the pillows. He patted the spot next to him and smiled. “Come to bed already.”

“You’re going to get sick if you sleep like that,” Levi warned but still complied anyway, lying next to the vampire and having his side touch his.

“I’ll be fine. Besides, it’s hot as hell outside and I need to cool down.” Summer was the worst time of the year for him (heat _and_ more daylight? No thank you), but it was more bearable now that he has an air conditioner for a boyfriend.

“I knew it, you just want my body.”

“Levi, you don’t have a body,” Eren deadpanned. “Besides, I just want _you_.”

He placed his hand over where Levi’s heart would be and Levi did the same for Eren.

There was no heartbeat, but he had never felt more alive than to have Levi like this next to him.

“I love you, Levi. My body, my soul, and even my heart belong only to you.”

Levi leaned forward and soundlessly pressed their lips together.

“I may not have much, but I know my spirit and soul is in your hands,” Levi said, “Maybe I’ll have a body once more for me to give.”

“And maybe my heart will start beating one day,” Eren supplied. “Who knows what will happen in the future? After all…”

_We have an eternity together._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! :D I hope you honeybuns enjoyed the story! ^O^ This is my last update for 2016 (as I will be away off somewhere until the New Year), but here's hoping to another year of writing and ereri! 
> 
> See you in the next fic! ^^

**Author's Note:**

> I just realized after writing this, it reminded me of the two of the Notice Me Senpai characters: Vampire-sensei and Ghost-senpai... Oops.


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